Latest / The Recess-An Inside Look at the Auburn School District / Episode #57-Brian Humphreys, Executive Director of Maintenance & Operations

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Episode #57-Brian Humphreys, Executive Director of Maintenance & Operations · The Recess-An Inside Look at the Auburn School District

• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, and welcome to the Reese Test Podcast.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: Alan Spicciotti, the proud superintendent of the Auburn School District.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: The Reese Test gives me a chance to take you behind the scenes and meet staff members, students, folks who you may not get to see every day or learn about, but they're doing amazing things to support our kids.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: I have one of those today.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I'd like to welcome Brian Humphreys to the show.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: So Brian is Executive Director of Maintenance and Operations for the Auburn School District.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: He is going to tell you a little bit about himself and his role and his team.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then we're going to really dig in on the capital levy that was approved by voters in November 2025 and is going to do a whole bunch of things to make our schools safer, uh, more modernized, uh, as well as it also supported technology.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: But we're really going to hear about the capital projects that are going to improve our schools.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: So at this time, I'd like to invite Brian Humphreys to the microphone and welcome you to the podcast.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you very much for having me.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm really excited.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: Great.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Brian.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, well, we're excited too.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we've had members of your team on before, and it's just really amazing the work that you guys do.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I'm so proud of the condition of our schools.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: Some are have been around for decades, and you wouldn't even know it.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: Your teams do really good work.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you'll tell us who's on the teams, but we're gonna get to all that.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the podcast.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we're gonna start with the question I ask every guest.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: Who was your favorite teacher and why?
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: My favorite teacher uh was Mr.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Nevin.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he was my junior year history teacher.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: It was kind of an interesting time in my life.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I was really just participating in school enough to be able to play sports.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: That was what I was there for.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't really have a direction.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: I had some things going on personally that um kind of made it difficult for me to always listen to authority.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember one day he really came down on me hard, threw me out of the classroom, told me to go stand in the hall and to wait for him.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: That was a very long wait.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: I think he made me wait 10 or 15 minutes.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: By the time he came out there, I was ready to fight him.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: He came out there, wasn't upset, put one hand on my shoulder and he said, Brian, the reason why I do this is because I believe in you.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: I see who you are and I see what you're capable of.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: He said, I don't have this conversation with every kid.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: I have it with the kids that I know really want to do good, but don't know how to do good.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: And that conversation that I had with him, that hand on my shoulder, the way he looked me in the eyes, and the way that he treated me, it was foundational in my life.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: And it really changed my outlook.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: I started participating in school more.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I had the opportunity to see him about 10 years later.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: I told him about that and the impact that it made on my life.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it was just a great moment that I was able to share with him.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so you don't work directly with students in your role, but do you see yourself in your own, you know, obviously age and role appropriate way doing that with uh some of your staff that you've had a chance to mentor?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I have.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: And it was easier when I first got into management, uh, when I was directly supervising some of the people out in the field, because we have people from every walk of life that come and work in maintenance and operations, all different ages.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: And it's really it was exciting to me then and it still is to be able to have somebody who maybe doesn't fully understand where they want to go or how to get there, and to be able to kind of be that solid rock to them and provide them some of the information that was provided to me when I was younger.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and actually uh I've heard stories like that from your your peers.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: Some of our most important employees are actually behind the scenes, uh, do work that should get celebrated but doesn't.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: So uh I'm really glad we can elevate that in this conversation.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so you just mentioned there are a lot of routes into school district maintenance and operations.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh what was yours?
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's funny.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: I actually started off working in the recreation field.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: I loved working with kids.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: I coached basketball, um, I did after school, before school, summer camps, day camps.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: I met my wife at a summer camp who's a teacher and has been for many years.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then I think it was probably 2009, somebody let me know that I could make$1.50 an hour more if I work maintenance instead of working with the kids.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: And at that time in my life, when I was living, I wouldn't be it would be generous to say it was paycheck to paycheck.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I said$1.50 an hour, that sounds pretty good.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I switched over to the park side, and that kind of began my 20, almost 20-year journey in the maintenance field.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: To bring me to this specific role though, it was probably 2012 or 13 I realized that if I ever wanted to be able to lead a department, I had to know what everybody did in the department.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't enough to just have a little bit of the information.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to be able to, if not be a master of all subjects, at least be able to come and speak to them.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: So at that point, I dedicated my time to working all the different managerial roles and maintenance and operations.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: I I've done a stint in all of them.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's really what prepared me for the role that I have today.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: And it and it's ultimately what brought me to Auburn.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: What was your favorite role?
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like your hands-on blue-collar roll-up your sleeve role in MO.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's really hard.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think that my favorite for purely personal reasons was working outside.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um I was a grounds technician for several years.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: The ability to only go inside to punch the clock and to go outside the rest of the day was very appealing to me.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: I really enjoyed being able to drive away from a site and seeing the work that was done immediately.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: It gave you that sense of that was my work for the day.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: It was good, honest work, and now I can see it, and other people can see it too.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: That must be really like rewarding, and and I can think of when I've been able to do that at home or on the job.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: Or I mean, sometimes like if the clocks change and I'm in a room and the clock is still an hour off, I'll get up in the middle of a meeting and change it.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: And like I have this weird sense of accomplishment.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I can only imagine if you know you trim the hedges or uh, you know, help the play field look great, or the front presentation of the school, how gratifying that would be.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it certainly was.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: It was something that when I see uh our teams out there now doing, there's is a part of me that says, man, that'd be nice riding in that truck today.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's really important work that we do too.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I mean, some of it is safety work.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, uh I want to cross country meet.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I don't even think about, gosh, this ground better be level or somebody's gonna turn an echo, right?
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's well maintained.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so there's a safety part, but a lot of it's a pride.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like we think it's really important that our students and our staff see that uh they're valued by our community, and it's just such a visual representation of uh the investment we make in schools.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like if if there's curb appeal, if things are well maintained, most of our community is not going to get inside of our schools very often, but they'll see if the grass is cut, you know, if if all of the you know growth is trimmed, the curbs are painted, all of those things are are kind of symbols of gosh, if they can't even take care of that, you know, what are they doing in our classrooms?
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: So it really means a lot.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: And uh your your team is small but mighty.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: So let's transition to that.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: Take us through the o areas you oversee as executive director, maintenance and operations, and give us some sense of like uh your your staffing level or I'm always amazed.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: We're we have sixty-six square miles in our school district.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we have you probably know how many square feet we have.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: A couple million, maybe.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: A couple million.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I mean it's an awesome responsibility.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: Uh tell us about your team that maintains all of that.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well, first of all, I'd like to say while we do have a smaller team in Auburn, it is invested.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, Auburn does a great job investing to make sure that we have even more than what the base funding levels are for these positions.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Auburn knows how important it is to invest in this.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: The safe and welcoming environment is so important, and it is seen every single day.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: I came from a previous district that we just didn't have the luxury to be able to maintain our grounds and our buildings the way that we do here in Auburn.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um with that said, I mean, we take care of everything outside and inside of our buildings, um, up to the roofs, up to the property lines.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: We have pieces of property that don't have anything on it right now, but we take care of everything.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh that includes mechanical, electrical, paint, grounds, our warehouse.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: We really do a lot.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: With that also comes a really important piece of compliance.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: We know that every single year more is put on our plate to do.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: Legislation comes down, some funded, some not, that we have to make sure that we manage in the district because it's so important to making sure that we have that safe part of the safe and welcoming environment.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: So that really takes up most of my time.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then um recently we've done more work on the capital levy, which has been some of the most exciting stuff that I've done in quite a few years.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: Great.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: Well, let's transition to that right now.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: Just to remind our audience, in November of 2025, Auburn School District Community passed a six-year capital facilities improvement levy.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, Brian, can you talk about the work that's already being completed?
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, then we'll talk about what's in the queue.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so safety and security.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's something that we really focused on early.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh every bit of four-foot fencing that needed to be upgraded to six foot, we did that as soon as we could.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Any fencing that could go in without a permit being required, we went and we did that right away.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: We were also able to take advantage of some really important PSE lighting incentive grants.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um while we weren't intending on doing lighting upgrades in year one, we thought if we're gonna get anywhere from 50 to 70 uh percent rebates, we kind of need to jump on those right now.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why we started doing those.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: We also were able to do the Auburn Riverside uh recoding of their tennis courts, and that was something that really needed to happen up there.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: That was very important work.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we also noticed there was a safety concern over the access and inclusion building to handrails that really needed to be repaired.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so that was some of the stuff that we were able to jump on just within the first few months of it being passed and get done.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: And what's happening kind of in the rest of this we consider year one to be in until basically until the next school year.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: So what what work is starting to happen and will happen through next summer?
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we have been just full on in design mode and planning mode to do access control work at 14 of our sites.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: When people hear access control, sometimes they're not quite sure what it means.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Think more card readers, more key fobs, less hard keys.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: It improves the ability to track who is going into our building.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: When you lose a key, the key's gone.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Re-keying a whole facility will cost could potentially$30,000 to do that.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas a fob is deactivated.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: So that's one big thing we're working on right now.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we had an immediate concern over at the Access and Inclusion Building well with some failing heat pumps.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: So that's something that we're moving into year one work to do.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: We also uh currently are working on more lighting upgrades.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Auburn Riverside is a really big one.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um we're trying to figure out a way to turn all the fluorescent lights into LED lights.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's something that's been taking up a lot of our time in recent weeks.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: And this isn't just for vanity, right?
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: The lighting, what are the advantages of the LED over the fluorescent?
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: Not only is this state essentially outlawed fluorescent lighting going forward, they've they passed it back a couple years because they understood it's such a huge lift from all schools to be able to get rid of fluorescent lighting at once, but it's incredibly inefficient and it's also just not the best material to use in a school.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's not it's not as safe as it could be fluorescent lighting.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: And the I would assume the operating cost is less once you have the LEDs in?
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: And that's one of the reasons why PSE provides the grants because they know it's gonna take the drain off of their power grid.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: So can you talk about just in in a broad brush, what are the types of projects that lie ahead?
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: There's over a hundred specific small projects within the capital levy, which I should mention was$110 million.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: So this is a major investment by our community.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: We've started with some safety projects that are top priority, but what lies ahead in kind of just the big buckets?
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: So we're talking about things like air conditioning, we're talking about new flooring in buildings, um, we're we're talking about new roofs, big ticket items that are gonna make a difference to schools and hopefully make them last for another 30 years.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: I you you reminded me of um uh one of our classified staff members at Washington Elementary posted on her personal Facebook, and I'm leaving the I know the name, but I'm gonna leave it out just because I don't know if she wants to share this.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but she posted a picture and she took all of her ID badges from the 30 years that she had worked and threw them on the floor and took a picture and said, you know, here's my 30 years in education all on the same carpet.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: So it's amazing that we can build buildings that last for beyond expectancy.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: Some of the things that can't last are things like carpet.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that when we're talking about safety and security, we're talking about health, carpet sometimes gets lost in that shuffle.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's so important.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we have seam splitting in places.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, this carpet is already 10 to 12 years past what it was supposed to be uh usable for.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: And then there are projects that might seem small uh to the outside community, but like uh you're adding a staff restroom at Hazelwood, for example.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I know probably the biggest cheer when we talked about this at Hazelwood by far was for that.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because I think they have two.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: This the school's really grown since it was originally built.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: And on a school schedule, most people need to use the facilities at the same time.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: So those small things make a big difference in the livability of the building.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: And we're gonna have Hazelwood online for decades ahead, so we want to do it right.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: We also uh have some major investments.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking Auburn Riverside, I think, has the most work.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and then Lakeview and probably Washington, I might be missing one.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: Jil Doray.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Jildo Ray.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of this is about we we run bonds to build schools.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: At some point, it makes more sense to build new.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: But until that point, if we can, you know, the saying a stitch in time saves nine, if we can fix that roof or replace that roof, uh, that school could be in good condition for decades longer, right?
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: So you want to just talk about some of the schools that are getting major attention in the in the levy?
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: Jildo Ray is a really good example of that.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: The r a roof does take a lot of the budget that's allocated for Jildo Ray, but in that they also have air conditioning.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they have got a large uh portion of money to do their vestibule, to do access control.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: We need to make sure that these schools can function until they are due for replacement, until until they actually get passed on a bond.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's what's so exciting about this from my perspective, being the person in charge of overseeing these buildings and maintaining them.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: Every time that we look at these projects, I get so excited.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, 150 maintenance type projects.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, this is our bread and butter.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: So it was really excited to be able to bring these schools up to a position that they will be maintainable for those years.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: Fantastic.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, why don't we talk about how you decide the timeline?
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's a major project to manage.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe explain a little bit about the challenge of a levy versus a bond and the cash flow that comes with that and and how that goes into scheduling so many projects over six years.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh safety and security, and then the health of the students, the staff, uh, the community, those are the first things we look at.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because even though we'll set a schedule up, if there's something on that list that we were thinking might be a little far further down the road, but something happens and it poses a risk, that's going to get bumped up to the front.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: We have to have that flexibility in our schedule.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: Other than that, it really is like a puzzle at times.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: We get two draws a year of a little over four million dollars.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: There's over 150 projects going across over a dozen sites.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: So it's very, very hard to plan outside of one or two major things a year.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: Because once you do that major piece of work, then you have to try to fill in the rest of that work with essentially what fits our budget.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I think we have a great track record of being responsible with the budget.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just a reminder that we've become accustomed to bonds, and it was really exciting with the 2016 bond to build eight schools.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: We could sell the bonds, which is like uh getting a mortgage, and you get to have the house up front.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we could do the schools up front.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: This is pay as you go.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: So we get we get the uh capital levy over six years, two installments a year, so in 12 installments, and and we'll sync that up with the projects.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um as you've decided the timelines, how will we be informing the community about the work that's coming and then the work that's happening?
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh I mean a variety of ways.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: Newsletters are going out, social media posts.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have individual websites for the schools so that they can see what was voted on and where those projects are, whether they're complete, whether they're started, when they're planned to be started.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, those are all gonna be very valuable tools that will be available to see.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I also know our principals.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, our principals, they're the leaders of our schools.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: They all have a very close relationship with their communities.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I feel like one of the best things that I can do in my job is give clear and accurate information to the principals so that they can actually communicate that out to their own communities because they're not going to be coming to me, the community members.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: They're gonna be coming to the principals.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what I think is a main responsibility of my job is to help the principals do their jobs.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Brian.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's a little bit about our capital levy, and again, we'll be rolling out more information about those projects on our website and social media between now and January 2027 so that everybody knows what's coming uh and can look forward to which projects will happen when at the school that their children go to.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: Let's shift back kind of big picture.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: Again, you're the executive director of maintenance and operations.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: What is your favorite part of your job?
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: The people.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, the the the people are the favorite part of my job.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, as anybody who has ever worked, uh, I would say at times a high stress, high demand job.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's easy to get down.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's easy to sometimes feel like you've been beaten down and you need to rest and recharge.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever I feel that way, I walk back into the shop and I go and I talk to my groundskeepers or I talk to my electricians or I go to the schools and I talk to administrators, I see the kids, I talk to the custodians, and then I'm right back up.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: It fills my bucket instantly.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: It it always has been and it always will be the people who work for Auburn School District, the community members, the students.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: That is what I love about my job.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: Fantastic.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: You have truly a great team.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we haven't talked a lot about custodial, but uh a large staff of custodians across the district, day custodians, evening custodians.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you have obviously the grounds folks who are out in the field, uh, and then you have like skill trade shops on site or they go out to schools, and it's just it's a powerful team, really friendly people, people who really care about the community and and our schools, and they know that they're educators in in that particular role, making it possible for kids to learn.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and uh like a wonderfully diverse group of folks, young, old, all kinds of cultures.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's just fun when we get together, and I really I got to, you know, meet with your team over in the warehouse.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: He kind of has set up an impromptu meeting space, and and that was awesome.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I love seeing everybody out there, and uh so I I can definitely see that the people are your favorite part of the job.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: Enjoyed getting to know a little bit about the levy and your role and hear your passion for this work.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and Brian does this every day.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, he's upbeat, enthusiastic, and helps energize all of us.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: He's also really competent, really good at his job, and has earned the respect of our team very quickly.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: You've been in Auburn for uh about twenty months now, going on two years.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: Almost two years.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: It just absolutely hit the ground running, and we're so fortunate uh to have uh hired you over.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Away from a neighboring school district.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: That was definitely our benefit.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I probably got a little bit of grief about that, but it was worth it.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: And so you have help leading these teams.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you want to just say a word about uh your leadership team and the work they do?
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, first up, uh Scott Whitey, who's been with the district for I believe 20 years, maintenance department for 15, he's the assistant director.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: He oversees the warehouse and the day custodians and also is playing a huge role in the Capital Levy project.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I really couldn't do it without him.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: He has such institutional knowledge being here for so long.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he's a great asset.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: Dan Duran, he oversees mechanical, electrical, and grounds.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: He actually went through the mechanical shop, then he was the electrical lead.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: He went to Auburn High School.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: He is Auburn through and through, so he is also just a huge resource.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Sergio Rijos, uh, he oversees the paint shop and the general maintenance shop.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: He started in the custodial department, worked his way up to a lead, um, and then ended up taking over the general maintenance shop.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: He is actually somebody that we still rely on to help give us guidance with custodial matters because he has so much knowledge and he shares it so freely.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and then we have Angel Cuinka, who is our night custodial supervisor, gonna be playing an even larger role with our green schools program this year.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: He's very excited about that.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and he was a custodian in district too.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um it is very fun to be able to work with people who have that connection to the community and the schools because they just truly care.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: And that's that's a great thing to have in a maintenance and operations department.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you have such a strong team, they have a heart for the district, and I really admire how much they pour into your staff and really invest in their growth.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, just just a great bunch of folks all the way through MO.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Janet Harris, who's our administrative assistant.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: She is the first person you see when you walk in the building, always greets you with a smile.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody always comments on how much they like walking into our building.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then our office manager, Alexis Keeleher, she is amazing as well.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, she handles pretty much everything that I try to know about, but if I spent too much time in it, my head would probably hurt.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: She does such a great job making our office run smoothly.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh all right, shifting gears.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we're gonna start winding down, but before we do that, I want to ask my favorite question.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: What was your favorite thing to do at recess?
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: I think like everybody that evolves.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, first it was the swings, then it was kickball, and then I think there was probably a time where me and the guys were just running around chasing each other, and then I think I really hit my stride with basketball, and that was I then I spent most of my time on the blacktop.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, good.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: Did you end up playing on a basketball team?
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I did.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I played basketball from competitively from sixth grade uh up till I graduated high school, and then I started coaching it right after I graduated to stay close to the game.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: And this is actually my first year coaching two teams at the same time because I have uh somebody who's now eligible for the first and second grade team, my son Theo, who's in first grade now, and Finn, this will be his third year playing, and now he's in third and fourth grade.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I have to give a plug uh for the team eight and oh last year.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: We're we're looking to be undefeated this year as well.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be hard, but we know um if we work hard, uh if we learn, and if we have fun every single day, uh that's really what it takes to be successful.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thanks, Coach Brian.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I tell people uh to go out and play, and it sounds like you've found a way to stay engaged uh with your favorite recess activity.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: So if we ask our kids what was your favorite thing to do at recess, it was probably supported by Brian and his team.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: You could say that.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: More my team than me.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: I have an amazing team, Alan.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um I am just so thankful that the team here in Auburn is so self-sufficient.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of the work they do, other districts rely on outside vendors because they don't have the manpower to do.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: Those come with very expensive service agreements to do that work.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, coming here, having highly skilled individuals do that work themselves.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: We invest in the people and we save money on the contracts to bring people who are are great people, but they're not Auburn School District community members.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I couldn't agree more.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: I couldn't be more proud of our skilled trades folks and our custodians and just everybody who works behind the scenes so that our teachers can do their magic with our kids.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it all has to work together or none of it works.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: And uh your team's the best.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: And uh Brian, we're really glad you're with us in the Auburn School District.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: I really want to make it clear to anybody who's listening, the capital levy, maintenance and operations, everything that we do is just so when you come into our buildings, you're focused on learning.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um when you say we do the work behind the scenes and we we're not we're very comfortable there.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you know, being behind the scenes is something that we kind of thrive with.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: We like to be the first ones in the building.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: We're also the last ones out of the building.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um we know that the work that we do in itself is important, but we don't feel like that's the important piece.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: We feel like the important piece is the ability for the students to come in and do their work, the teachers to come and teach, the administrators to leave the staff, the community members to feel safe with their kids going to those schools.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's just the one thing I really want to convey is it's not just lip service that's done by any one department.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: Maintenance and Operations truly believes it too.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: We always think about ways that we can improve the building and we can get work done without disturbing any class time.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's what's huge for us.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: Well put, and I know our educators really appreciate that and and value the work that that your team does.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, thank you.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: My guest has been Brian Humphreys, our executive director of maintenance and operations.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: Brian, thanks for being on the recess podcast.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you very much.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: I had a lot of fun.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: Now go hawks.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, there we go.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: Gohawks.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: I know one of one of your guys is a big Raiders fan, so uh hopefully he's listening to this.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh this has been the Recess Podcast uh production of the Auburn School District, thanks to Vicky Alonzo, who helps produce and get this uh out to you through all the podcast platforms.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: Our one ask is that you please share the recess because we want to get the stories out, uh, especially things like our great maintenance and operations team that does work behind the scenes and doesn't get a lot of the glory, but we couldn't do what we do without them.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: So please share this.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_01: And next time I will see you on the Recess Podcast.